The POPE Encyclopedia
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ALEXANDER VI
Pope from 1492 to 1503, arguably the most infamous successor to the throne of St. Peter, described by the Florentine historian Francesco Guicciardini as "more evil and more lucky than perhaps any pope before him.'' Born at Jativa, near Valencia, Rodrigo de Borja y Borja was a member of the increasingly powerful Borgia family. His uncle, Alfonso de Borja, one-time Bishop of Valencia, was elected pope as Callistus III in April 1455 and soon bestowed many offices upon his nephew. In February 1456, Rodrigo was made a cardinal (without ordination) and the next year became vice-chancellor of the Holy See. While an Italianized Spaniard, Rodrigo proved adroit at political maneuverings, amassing a truly vast personal fortune and influencing the election of Sixtus IV (1471-1484). Meanwhile, he enjoyed a decidedly unreligious life, fathering numerous children and earning a sharp rebuke from Pope Pius II. His favorite mistress was the Roman aristocrat Vannozza Catanei by whom he would sire four children: Juan Cesare, Lucrezia, and Jofre. Vannozza led a discreet life, and after his election to the papacy, Rodrigo married her off. Roodrigo had long, harbored ambitions toward the papacy, but he failed to secure his own elevation in succession to Sixtus. He tried again after Innocent VIII died in July 1492, using lavish bribes and promises and a reputation for administrative skill to secure the needed majority of votes by the cardinals on August 11, 1492. His initial acts seemed to point to a promising reign. Civil order was restored in the Eternal City, a general reform of the Curia was proclaimed, and a crusade against the Ottoman Turks was proposeol. But Alexander quickly forgot his plans and instead devoted his attentions to his precious causes: the ruthless advaneement of the House of Borgia and wholehearted fondness for riches and extravagant dissipation. His son (Cesare was made a cardinal at the age of eighteen--one of five Borgias to be made princes of the Church. He had high hopes for his first son, but plans (such as the throne of Naples) were cut short by Juan's murder in 1497. Juan had dined with Cesare and was found brutally stabbed and floating in the Tiber the next morning. When Alexander tearfully commanded his son's body be dragged out of the water, sharp-tongued Romans observed that the pontiff truly was a fisher of men. Rumors placed the crime at the feet of the pope, but real guilt almost certainly belonged to Cesare, who was ever jealous of Juan's power. The death of his son stunned Alexander, prompting him to make serious efforts at reforming his life. His reform proved fleeting. The bull he intended to issue for the revitalization of the Church was never promulgated. Instead, he sank back into assisting Cesare's bloody subjugation of the nobles of Rome and the Papal States. By the time of his death, the States of the Church were essentially a fiefdom of the House of Borgia. He did involve himself in several other notable affairs, such as the feud with the Florentine dictator Savonarola (who was burned at the stake in 1498) and the division of the New World between Spain and Portugal through a bull issued in 1493-1494. He also celebrated a jubilee, but in typical fashion the sums brought in by selling indulgences were given to Cesare to pay for his campaigns. A patron of the arts, Alexander restored Castel Sant'Angelo, had the Borgia Apartments in the Vatican decorated by Pinturicchio, and even had Michelangelo draw up plans for a new St. Peter's. Alexander died quite suddenly on August 18, 1503, his demise immediately attributed to poison. The story at the time was that he and Cesare (who fell ill but recovered) had accidentally taken an evil brew intended for one of Alexander's cardinals. He perhaps actually died of malaria. His reign, looked upon as one of the darkest in papal history, was subject to wild slander, with chroniclers enthusiastically reporting orgies, poisonings, and even incest. While these were exaggerations, Alexander nevertheless epitomized the worst excesses of the period and the need for genuine reform in the papacy. Successor: Pius III.
THE POPE ENCYCLOPEDIA - Matthew Bunson Published by Crown Trade Paperbacks 201 East 50th Street, New York New York 10022, USA ISBN 0-517-88256-6
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